Molting or something else?

[HunterRanch19]

My frizzle starting molting about a month or two ago, and she just doesn’t seem to be getting her feathers back. She is still laying eggs and eating normally, but want to get opinions about whether or not it’s normal. It’s my first molting season with her, so I want to make sure. Thoughts?

 

[FarmerGirl101]

Have you checked her for mites? This doesn't look like normal molting as the feathers are still there but just missing the strands (idk how else to describe it) that make up the feather shape. Molting in California tends to be towards the fall rather than in July.

 

[HunterRanch19]

I haven’t checked her for mites, but as I’ve gotten close to her I haven’t seen any.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

My frizzle starting molting about a month or two ago, and she just doesn’t seem to be getting her feathers back. She is still laying eggs and eating normally, but want to get opinions about whether or not it’s normal. It’s my first molting season with her, so I want to make sure. Thoughts?

I see a lot of broken feathers.

Do you have a rooster?

While it's not too uncommon for a bird to continue to lay during molt, most stop production during molt. So I'd say either her feathers are brittle and breaking or she's being plucked.

Frizzle feathers are a bit different too, so let's ask @MysteryChicken to see what she thinks.

 

[HunterRanch19]

No rooster. Not allowed in our area. I feel like when we got her around this time last year she had just finished molting, but she had all her feathers by that point so I can’t say what she looked like before.

I’m gone during the day, but when I check on her in the morning, afternoons, and before bed, and on the weekends, she seems to be getting along well with the other girls and no one is pecking on each other

 

[MysteryChicken]

I see a lot of broken feathers.

Do you have a rooster?

While it's not too uncommon for a bird to continue to lay during molt, most stop production during molt. So I'd say either her feathers are brittle and breaking or she's being plucked.

Frizzle feathers are a bit different too, so let's ask @MysteryChicken to see what she thinks.

Looks like feather picking, she may possibly be a Frazzle.

 

[HunterRanch19]

Looks like feather picking, she may possibly be a Frazzle.

What’s a frazzle? She’s had normal feathers and body up until about a month and a half ago…

 

[FarmerGirl101]

What’s a frazzle? She’s had normal feathers and body up until about a month and a half ago…

A frazzle is a frizzy whose parents were both frizzies making it a frazzle as it has the two copies of the frizzle genes. It makes feathers more brittle and prone to breaking compared to a frizzle. In short, frizzle=one frizzle parent and frazzle=two frizzle parents.

 

[chooki]

For mites and lice, you should check her belly/vent area, that's where mites/lice like to multiply.

Has it been a hot summer, how's coop's ventilation? My big structured Australorp rooster lost some feathers last summer, when early afternoon temperature frequently reached above 32C/90F .